Vitamin D

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Vitamin D - Food Sources and Deficiency Symptoms

It is a fat soluble vitamin that is found in food and can also be made in your body after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Calciferol is the most active form of vitamin D. The liver and kidney help convert vitamin D to its active hormone form. Once vitamin D is produced in the skin or consumed in food, it requires chemical conversion in the liver and kidney to form 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D, the physiologically active form of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a hormone precursor that contributes to the maintenance of normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. It is a steroid hormone, which play important role in regulating body levels of calcium and phosphorus, and in mineralization of bone.

Functions of vitamin D:

The important functions of vitamin D are as:-

• Vitamin D promotes the body's absorption of calcium , which is essential for the normal development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones.

• Vitamin D is essential for the efficient utilization of calcium by the body.

• Increased exposure to sunlight or increased intake of vitamin D increases serum levels, making the serum concentration a useful indicator of vitamin D nutritional status.

• Vitamin D actually functions more like a hormone. Calcitriol, the most metabolically active form of vitamin D, works with parathyroid hormone (PTH) to maintain proper levels of calcium in the blood.

• Vitamin D may also play a role in regulating cellular growth and function in our brain cells.

Sources of Vitamin D:

The main sources of vitamin D are as:-

• Fortified foods are common sources of vitamin D. One cup of vitamin D fortified milk supplies one-half of the recommended daily intake for adults between the ages of 19 and 50.

• The major food sources are: Fatty fish and fish oils.

• Exposure to sunlight is an important source of vitamin D. Ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin.

Deficiency of Vitamin D:

This condition may lead to:-

• When dietary intake of vitamin D is inadequate, then deficiency of vitamin D can occur.

• The classic vitamin D deficiency diseases are rickets and osteomalacia.

• In children, vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, which results in skeletal deformities.

• The deficiency of vitamin D, can occur, when there is limited exposure to sunlight.

• The body gets deficient in vitamin D, when the kidney cannot convert vitamin D to its active form, or when someone cannot adequately absorb vitamin D from the gastrointestinal tract.

• In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteomalacia, which results in muscular weakness in addition to weak bones.